The limited-edition collection with more than 50 units is due out on May 14.

PARIS — Karl Lagerfeld is no stranger to color cosmetics — he’s long used them to shade his dreamy illustrations. Now the designer has teamed with Australian beauty company ModelCo for his latest collaboration.

The Karl Lagerfeld + ModelCo limited-edition makeup line, with more than 50 units, is set to launch globally on May 14.

Lagerfeld allowed that putting makeup on sketches is “very different than working on a makeup collection as a product. The technical part I don’t know about; I only know the aesthetic part.”

Asked about the target customer, he said, “This collection is done for people of any age who might like it — also young people who know more about makeup than all of us.”

Pier Paolo Righi, chief executive officer of Karl Lagerfeld, lauded ModelCo as a “creative and innovative company, with a team that thinks out of the box. They are very connected with a Millennial audience and deeply grounded in fashion. At the same time, ModelCo resonated with the iconic, playful DNA at the heart of Karl Lagerfeld. This helped to bring this project to life, creatively, in the product palette we developed together. We felt that these attributes made them a perfect match with what we stand for and who we want to connect with.”

He added: “This collaboration presents a new, very relevant way to connect with our audience, for whom we are much more than a fashion brand — we are a fashionable companion in their daily lives. Looking beautiful when going out is, of course, important to our consumers, and we are very happy that we can help them [do] so and can do it with a smile.”

ModelCo ceo Shelley Sullivan said she was honored to fuse her beauty company’s know-how with “one of the world’s most renowned and iconic names in fashion.”

“We felt that creating the Karl Lagerfeld + ModelCo beauty collection would fit nicely in our existing marketing plan and set the scene for our brand globally,” the executive said.

The 16-year-old Australian firm is expanding its reach in the U.K. as well as elsewhere in Europe and in the U.S. “This [line] provides an insight into the ModelCo range that is coming to these markets,” said Sullivan.

Lagerfeld oversaw the design of the collection that counts multiple products topped with a stylized bust of himself, easily identifiable with his signature sunglasses, ponytail, high shirt collar and necktie. Some of the packaging also pays homage to the designer’s famous cat Choupette.

Lagerfeld said the “whole story” started with his first drawings.

“I had never done such a complete (makeup) collection before,” he said.

Karl Lagerfeld’s sketch.
Courtesy Photo

The theme of the makeup line — suitable for all skin types — is “illuminated beauty.” “Every product is illuminated through packaging or an innovative formula. The Lip Lights range literally lights up with [an] in-built LED light and mirror,” said Sullivan, referring to the eight shades of matte lipstick, eight shades of lip gloss and four shades of special-effect topcoat. Lip Lights, she noted, “was an original ModelCo first-to-market creation.”

The designer asserted that the line is “very complete and speaks for itself. But for example, I like very much the lip light that is innovative and fun.”

One of the brushes.
Courtesy Photo

Prices range from $15 for the lip balm to $28 for the lipstick and lip gloss, and $65 for the Choupette Collectible Eyeshadow Palette Day to Night. There’s a minaudière with mini lip kit, too, that is splashed with Lagerfeld’s signature in pink and retails for $195. Sullivan called it “a real ‘fashion meets beauty’ product, as the Karl Lagerfeld clutch is a key item of his fashion collection.”

The minaudière and products.
Courtesy Photo

With a limited number of products in the ephemeral color cosmetics line, which will have just one drop of stock, it’s meant to be collectible, said Sullivan, who remained mum on the specific number of units being produced.

The range is to be sold in Karl Lagerfeld stores and via karl.com, as well as ModelCo’s distribution network and modelco.com. In the U.S., it will be carried exclusively at Nordstrom; in Europe at Douglas, Nocibé, Cult Beauty and Galeries Lafayette, and at Paris Gallery, Dubai Mall and other select retailers in the Middle East.

The Luxe Highlight and Glow highlighters.
Courtesy Photo

The collection’s advertising campaign, titled “Kiss Me Karl,” features model Stella Maxwell and an animated 3-D character of Lagerfeld.

Karl Lagerfeld and ModelCo are set to host a “guerrilla-style” event in Paris on May 15 to mark the launch of the makeup line.

ModelCo, which sells its products around the world, has had numerous celebrity tie-ins in the past, including with Elle Macpherson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Hailey Baldwin. “These collaborations greatly elevated ModelCo from an Australian beauty brand, and set it on the global stage,” said Sullivan.

ModelCo, which is headquartered in Sydney, is among Australia’s fastest-growing beauty brands, with a portfolio that includes self-tanners and natural skin care.

Today we honor an icon, Karl Lagerfeld. Read WWD’s tribute to the late designer, whose prolific career has influenced fashion and culture overall for the last 60 years. Link in bio.
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Karl Lagerfeld has died in Paris.
The designer, one of the most prolific, admired and multi-talented fashion figures of the modern age, worked tirelessly until the end, giving instructions to his teams for the Fendi fall ready-to-wear collection, due to take place in Milan on Thursday.
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“For me, it’s an ode to England,” said Matty Bovan speaking of his fall collection. The designer, who is based outside York, touted his use of local wool, his work with artisans, and collaborations with the likes of Liberty, Stephen Jones on hats and Katie Hillier on key rings, scrunchies and bows.
And what a tribute it was — a wild-eyed, big-hearted hug for a country that’s feeling a little battered ahead of its exit from the European Union.
Report: Samantha Conti 📸: @kukukuba
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